Covetousness Love
by the youngest was the mostloved
Summary: AU Kurogane is on his way to becoming a powerful the most ninja. Order, against his will, to go and spy on an enemy nation through an opening as a bodyguard for an enigmatic boy with a troubled past. Will Kuroogane’s mission be a success or will something
1. Chapter 1 Castle of Ice

This is my first Tsubasa fic. Rejoice! Unfortunately it's not the greatest. Oh well enjoy it anyways.

AU: Set in Kurogane and Fay's teen years. Kurogane is on his way to becoming a powerful the most ninja. Order, against his will, to go and spy on an enemy nation through an opening as a bodyguard for an enigmatic boy with a troubled past. Will Kuroogane's mission be a success or will something distract him from completing his goals? Kuro/Fay. Slight: Fay/Ashura, Touya/Yukito, Sakura/Syaroan, ect.

Sorry if the characters are a little off they are younger (for now) so Kuro-woofy still has a short temper but controls it a little better and Fay (who is 16 but nearing his 17th birthday) isn't always hiding things cause he has Ashura, right now.

Disclaimer: I don't own TRC if I did Kuro/Fay shippers would be getting fan service constantly.

"Talky-Talky"

'Think-ponder'

**Chapter One: The Castle of ice**

Kurogane cursed inside of his head. This is not what he wanted, He had hoped they would take one look at him and send him home. Instead the17 year old sat there with mostly older adults waiting for the servant to come back. He was leaned up against the wall and looking over his surroundings. The waiting room was extravagant and decorated with marble, gold, and silvers. He was in the Kingdom of Celes; he originated from a Kingdom named Japan.

The threat of war was a looming fear for many kingdoms. The threat centered mainly on Celes and Japan, but the third largest Kingdom Clow could quickly be dragged in since it stood between the two fighting kingdoms.

Celes was the largest kingdom and was known for it's swift and ruthless victory's in any war they had taken part in. A ruler said to be just as cold and ruthless as his army's victories ruled Celes, his name was Ashura. It was rumored, by many of other kingdoms that if you saw King Ashura on the battlefield you knew that you would be dead before you could even try to run. Apparently no one really knew anything about the mysterious man, they just knew him from rumors that were spread.

Clow was a peaceful country that was located in a mighty desert that separated Celes and Japan. The king was a might wizard known as Clow Reed. This Kingdom had many harsh times since it had a hard time growing food and often had to buy from allies. Though a peaceful land the country had many good soldiers willing to die for the lord's wishes. Magicians were also common to be seen in the Clow's army and they had many victories, with help from powerful allies that would lend there soldier's land to rest or food to help through the harsh times.

Japan was the second largest in population, it was mainly known for the many famous wizards and sorceress that would spring from there. It was a kingdom of magic, or had been nicknamed. Japan's fighting style differed from Celes completely. Japan focused more on defense than offense, and with that fighting style the battles may not have been as quick as Celes but they could still challenge them for both countries had never been beaten. Two sisters each with a special magic rule the kingdom. Their magic might not be aggressive and help on the battlefield but they have a special elite team of fighters with many different skills to make up for it.

Kurogane was one of those fighters. He had the skills of a ninja and was one of the best, considering his age. He was in the Celes kingdom for one reason and that was to collect information about the Celes' army and if they were making any plans to attack Japan or their neighboring allies. Kurogane huffed he would have preferred to do this job a different way, like sneaking in and snooping through the documents and attacking people if he got caught. But Celes had given Japan an opening it couldn't pass up. They were hiring a bodyguard for one of King Ashura's servant. Apparently Ashura cared a great amount for this servant to hire a bodyguard and it also told other kingdoms that Ashura was concerned that a war might indeed break out.

Kurogane had been ordered to try and get the bodyguard job. If he succeeded then he was to make no hostile moves anywhere. He was snoop and report anything that he found. Kurogane hated failure but he also hated missions like theses. He slightly hoped that he would not get picked. He glanced around the palace waiting room once more and he felt awkwardly out of place. Everything was white, sliver, gold, or blue and He was wearing all black with an exception with some red thread as a stitching. The door opened and everyone stared at the servant who had entered. Everyone waited for the servant to speak the only sound was of the door slowly closing behind him. The door shut with a soft click and the sound echoed through the empty palace, which made Kurogane want to leave even more.

The servant cleared his throat. "King Ashura has made his decision." The old man took another pause, 'hurry up before you keel over geezer.' Kurogane mentally screamed at him. "He decided to interview two people himself that he found most fitting. Then after that he will make his final decision." 'You've got to fucking kidding me, I'd better not be one of them.' Kurogane cursed to himself again. He gave a bored look as he gazed around the room again. The old man was going around telling each person whether they were to stay or leave. When the old man reached Kurogane standing in the corner he smiled at Kurogane "Congratulations, you are one of those being decided upon." Then the old man went over to the last person left. Kurogane mentally slapped himself. He could feel he was being looked at; he turned his head to man across the room. "Heh, so this is my competition huh? Way too easy." He muttered to himself.

The old man showed Kurogane the way to the interview room. The other man qualified for the job was interviewed first, leaving Kurogane to keep staring at the waiting room out of boredom. When the door was opened to the interview room Kurogane was surprised to see the man sitting in there. He did not look like what Kurogane pictured. The man had long straight black hair that went passed his shoulders and his eyes were filled with kindness not cold ruthlessness. The man did not look like he was fit to be near a battlefield, he didn't have as much muscle that Kurogane imagined and his clothes were decorated with clear gems with a tint of blue.

"Kurogane, please sit." He voice was smooth and calm. He seemed to sense the surprise that Kurogane had when he saw him and he must of noticed the hesitance Kurogane had before, he made his way and sat across from the king. A small table was separated the two. "Would you like some tea before we start?" He waved his hand showing the table had cups and tea on it. "No thank you." Kurogane said a little unnerved. Ashura turned to the old servant "Thank you Bernard, that is all for now." He dismissed the old man then returned his gaze on Kurogane. He waited to speak until the door closed. "I would not usually consider someone as young as you to be a guard." He started off getting straight to the point. Kurogane growled inside his head at the insult. "But from what I heard you have the necessary skills, which for your age is astonishing." Kurogane smirked a bit from the complement. "I have never hired someone as young as you but then again no one has had to try and keep up with him until recently."

Kurogane felt this was more of a listen to the boss talk more than interview, which he was perfectly okay with. "I have hired a few bodyguards before for him and he either did not like them or they couldn't keep up." He said explaining again "I think they were much too old." There was a bit of awkward silence. "You are very serious aren't you Kurogane." He cursed on the inside a question "Yeah, I guess you could say that." Kurogane slightly mumbled. Ashura seemed to lean back a bit in his chair and look Kurogane over. "It's quite different from him but perhaps you can keep him in check." Ashura kept looking him over in awkward silence. Kurogane unnerved felt he was letting him a have a chance to talk. "So…do I get the job or not." Ashura smiled and said with a chuckle "I like you Kurogane, you get straight to the point. And I hope you two will get along, although _you_ don't have much of a choice. You can start immediately, correct?"

"Yes." Kurogane groaned on the inside. He hated spy jobs; his favorite was definitely the battles of strength. Ashura stood up and Kurogane followed suit. "I suppose you'll want to meet him. His name is Fay, by the way." Ashura opened the door and informed the old servant to give the other candidate his regards. "Come Kurogane." Ashura called him. 'What am I? A fucking dog?' he growled on the inside and followed anyways. The hallways were made of marble and the colors were the same as the waiting room, white, silver, gold, and blue. All the hallways looked the same, Kurogane was surprised that Ashura knew where he was going. "I would suggest not to wander around alone until you get use to the place. It's very easy to get lost in." Ashura smiled and seemed to drift into a far off memory.

It felt like they had walked for an hour in the awkward silence. Well it felt like that for Kurogane. Ashura finally stopped and Kurogane half expected him mutter crazily to himself that he was sure it was right here. "Here we are Kurogane." Ashura smiled at the younger man. "I'll have them set up the room next to this for you. Your will be the next one to the right." Kurogane nodded. "If you need anything I'm sure Fay will be more than happy to show you around." Ashura kept on smiling and Kurogane decided he didn't like his smile one bit. Ashura knocked on the door. It opened almost before he was done knocking. "Hello King Ashura." The pale women with strange ears bowed to him. "Hello Chii, is Fay in his room?" Kurogane just stared at the women and her strange features. "Yes, King Ashura. Fay is on Fay's balcony." She smiled "Would King Ashura like Chii to get Fay?" Kurogane looked at her weird. 'She's annoying, can't she talk normal.' "No that's alright we'll go get him." He spoke in his smooth friendly voice. "Oh!" She was surprised to see the man in dark clothing " Chii, this Kurogane. Kurogane Chii." He said a slight introduction before walking into the room. "Kuro…." The woman blinked confused and stared at Kurogane before following Ashura happily.

Kurogane hesitated for a minute and then followed him into the room. The room was a light shade of blue and pretty much had everything Kurogane could ever dream of. The bed was darker shade of blue and was huge with drapes that hung around the frame that were the same color as Ashura's gems. The closet was shut but Kurogane was sure it was twice the size of his old room. On the walls across from the bed were two sets of doors that were mainly windows, the doors lead to what Kurogane could only assume be the balcony. The same color of drapery that the bed was surrounded in blew softly in the wind covering the windows. Kurogane was in such awe that he didn't even notice when Ashura had come back into the room. "Well, I'll be leaving you two here." He smiled at Kurogane. Kurogane crinkled his forehead "You mean…."he said as he pointed to Chii. Ashura cut him off with a laugh. "No, he's on the balcony." Ashura left and Kurogane felt slightly humiliated. "Kurogane," Chii said with some trouble pronouncing it and grabbed the man's arm "Let's go meet master Fay."

The weird woman creature lead him on to the balcony. Kurogane freed himself from the creature when she had stopped dragging him. Kurogane saw him there. 'So this is Fay' He thought. The boy has elegant wind blown hair; it was a beautiful fair color of gold. His skin was so pale it could almost be considered white. He was extremely skinny and pressed himself up against the railing. He was tall but not quite as tall as Kurogane. And he kept staring out towards the far off distances instead of looking at the new person that had arrived. "Fay-chan," Chii said sweetly "This is…" She paused confused. "Kurogane." He said slightly annoyed. Fay glanced at Kurogane. Kurogane couldn't help but notice what a beautiful color of blue his eyes were, if only there was not a hint of sadness behind those eyes Kurogane would have said they were the prettiest eyes he had ever seen. Fay smiled at him "It's a wonderful view up here wouldn't you agree." Kurogane liked Fay's voice it was calm and smooth like Ashura's but there was something definitely different about it. Kurogane glanced out over the scenery "Yeah, Yeah it is."

Kurogane looked swiftly around the room that was given to him. Satisfied with his thorough search after he found nothing suspicious. He plopped himself on the large bed. "Goddamn it," He cursed, "Why did they have to send me? I'm better suited for other things then doing fucking this." He sat up and glanced around his new room. It was large but not as big as Fay's and the colors of the room were darker. The walls were maroon and there was a boarder around where the wall and the floor and ceiling meet was trimmed with gold. Kurogane sat up and glanced out the window. He had no balcony, but his view was just as beautiful he thought. He could see the city from his window. The bed and drapes were a dark purple that could almost be mistaken for black.

Kurogane lay on his new comfortable bed. He rested his eyes for what felt to him only a few minutes. He stood up and stretched. He heard a soft knock at the door, which he assumed, woke him up. Kurogane opened the door. "What?" He asked the girl with strange ears in an annoyed voice. Chii just smiled up at the man "Chii is suppose to give…" She paused and seemed to second-guess herself. "Kur-o..gone this." She smiled pleased with herself. She was holding several pieces of papers. Kurogane grabbed them out of the girl's hand. She kept smiling at him the same way and kept staring at him. Kurogane gave the girl an annoyed look. "Is there anything else?" "No." She just stood there and smiled. "O.k." Kurogane shut the door in her face. He put the papers on the bedside table. He glanced at the door before going over and yanking it open. She was still standing there smiling. "Hello Kuro-" Chii started "What do you want?" Kurogane asked angrily. "You have to tell her she's not need anymore." Fay said appearing out of nowhere. "It should say that on the papers you got from Ashura-sama." Fay added. Kurogane just stared at the boy for a bit before glancing back at the girl. "You can leave." He said deadpan. Chii smiled brighter and ran towards Fay capturing him in a hug. "Fay, let's go…"Chii started to talk to the other boy. Kurogane shut the door. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Fay, let's go…." They both turned to the sound of a door being slammed shut. "Hmm…He's grouchy don't you think." Fay smiled happily to his doll. Chii giggled as Fay slightly rubbed her head. "Now where do you want to go?" Chii smiled again "To the library." Fay grabbed her hand and started walking off towards the library. "What shall we do today Chii?" He asked giving her a genuine smile. Chii speed up to catch up to Fay. "Chii would like to read." He continued to smile "Ah…you want me to teach you more." Chii nodded. They had reached the large double doors of the library. "Fay can you teach Chii how to say that man's name?" She asked. "Of course, I'd be happy to."

"Kuro-gane." Fay repeated once more. "Kuro…gan..e." Chii blinked concentrating hard on her task. "We're getting there. Try it again. Kurogane." Fay loved Chii but he was getting quite tired of repeating the man's name over and over again. "Kuro-g..a..n.e" She hesitated again. "I think you got it, Chii. You just have to say it faster." Chii nodded listening to Fay. "Sure would be easier if it was a shorter name wouldn't it? Like Kurorin or Kuro-chan." Chii smiled and repeated "Kuro..rin, Kuro-Chan" Fay clapped his hands "Yes that's much easier"

Kurogane looked at the sunset from the window of his room. "How am I supposed to send any information I get?" He wandered out loud. This mission had poorly planned and he had barely been given any information at all. He was informed he would be trying for a bodyguard opening at Celes and forced to get ready and leave that day. Kurogane would have fought it if he had anytime; perhaps that is why he was rushed off. Kurogane sighed, "I can't wait to get home." From being rushed the last couple of days and interviewed and having being called a wrong name all day Kurogane had developed a headache. Kurogane went over and rested on his bed as he had done before he was interrupted. He closed his eyes hoping to forget his stress for a minute or two. Before he knew it he was asleep again.

Fay sighed as he and Chii stood out Kurogane's door. "Kuro-rin isn't answering." Chii said slightly saddened. Fay softly knocked on the door again "Maybe he's asleep." He halfway mumbled to himself. "Do you think he would want us to wake him up for dinner or let him sleep?" Fay tapped his lips with a slender finger pondering his question. "Dinner." Chii cried happily. "Really you think so." He smiled at the excited girl. "If we get in trouble you're taking the blame." He laughed and rubbed the girls head. Chii copied Fay's actions when he was pondering. "Come on, just be quite okay." Fay opened the door quietly.

They entered the dark room quietly. The only light was from the sun that had almost disappeared. Fay had known this room to be a spare guest room that Ashura kept around. It was much darker than the rest of the palace's decorations and Fay had always thought that there was something foreboding about it. Fay could make out the dark figure of the man sleeping on the bed.

Fay thought the man was extremely intriguing. He had never seen anyone like Kurogane in Celes. Kurogane was very tan and had fair amount of muscles. He seemed stern and mature for his age. Kurogane's eyes were also intriguing. He'd never seen anyone with red eyes before. He was sure that Kurogane was from a different kingdom and he was curious to know what one it was and if red eyes were common there. The man also dressed mainly in black, which most people in Celes wore white or blue. "Fay-san." Chii whispered quietly. Fay looked at Chii. He had not realized that they had made it to the bedside. Apparently he must have been spacing out and worried Chii a little bit. He rubbed the girls head. "I have a better idea Chii," He whispered and nodded to the door. They snuck out just as quietly as they had entered. "How about we bring his food up here so he can sleep and he'll still be able to have dinner."

When Kurogane woke up it was pitch black in his room. He was confused about his surroundings at first but he quickly remembered where and why he was there. He scooted himself off of the bed and stumbled to find away to turn on some lights. After a few minutes of cursing and searching he managed to turn on the lights. He glanced around his room to take in his surroundings once more. Kurogane was surprised to see a new table in his room and not only that but on it was plates of food. He walked over to the new item. He looked over the food and noticed a note on top of empty plate. He grabbed the note and skimmed the words quickly.

Kurogane-san  
Hope you don't mind I brought you your dinner.

Don't miss it again because I won't do this again.

Fay-san

Kurogane read over the name again. 'That can't be right' he thought 'If anyone had entered the room I would have heard them.' There was a soft knock on his door. Kurogane placed the note back on the table and opened the door. "Oh good you are awake." The blonde known as Fay smiled happily at him. " I wanted to make sure you got your dinner." Kurogane looked from the boy to the plates of food. Which Fay took it as invite to stick his head through the crack of the door to see what Kurogane was looking at. "You didn't eat any?" Fay sound a little disappointed. "If you don't like what is there I can get the cooks to make you something different." Kurogane looked back at the boy "No it's fine, I just woke up." The boy smiled at Kurogane for a while, as if waiting for something. He was reminded how the girl wouldn't move unless he said she was free to go. "Uh…Do you want something." Kurogane asked. The boy was starting to annoy him. "I was wondering if you'd like some company while you eat." Fay rocked on the heels of his feet and his smile had a hint of mischief. "No. I'm fine." Kurogane reply was monotone. Fay's smile dropped with surprise. "Oh…" The boy said and dropped his gaze to the floor. Kurogane looked at the boy and sighed. He didn't know why he was going to do this perhaps it was because he felt it was his duty to be nice to the kid. "You can come in." Kurogane said with dread. The boys smiled return and Kurogane opened the door wider for him to enter.

The boy settled in one of the chairs that had been brought in with the table. Kurogane shut the door and sat in the chair opposite of Fay. The boy sat with his feet on the chair and he wrapped his arms around his knees. Kurogane fixed himself a plate of food wondering why the boy wanted to talk to him. Kurogane took a fork and poked at some mysterious looking thing. Fay watched the other boy with interest. "It's actually pretty good besides the way it looks." Kurogane looked up at the boy. "I'd rather not risk it." He said pushing the bowl of unknown containments to the other side of the table. Fay smiled at Kurogane amused and stared at him. "What?" Kurogane sighed and Fay smiled again. "What?" Fay asked in reply. "What do you mean what?" Kurogane glared at the boy. "I was asking what you were asking what about." He said with a happy smile. "You know what I was asking what about." Kurogane yelled at the irritating boy. "Ah.." Fay clapped his hands over his ears. "Kurogane-san is so mean to me. He broke my eardrums." Kurogane had lost his patience with the boy. "What the hell are you talking about.?!" He continued to glare at the boy. Fay laughed a huge amused smile was planted on his delicate face. "Kurogane has such a short temper." Kurogane just looked at the boy and pouted slightly, before continuing his meal.

Fay let Kurogane enjoy the rest of his meal in peace while he made pictures in the bowl of pudding, which was rejected by Kurogane. Fay was enjoying keeping the man company. "Kurogane, may I ask you a question?" Fay asked his gaze still on his doodles. ".. Sure I guess." Kurogane said before chugging his drink and ending his meal. "Where are you from?" The boys gaze raised from the pudding to him. 'Should I lie to him, well I can't just tell him the truth.' Kurogane's mind raced. 'I can't believe I didn't think of having a stupid cover story for something so simple.' Fay blinked those gorgeous innocent eyes of his. "Kurogane?" Kurogane mentally hit himself when it came to him. "…Did I ask something you'd rather not talk about?" Fay asked his voice seemed strained. Kurogane shook his head knowing it would be suspicious to back out now. "No it's alright. I'm from a place called Suwa." He said. "Really, what is that place like?" Fay asked curious. "Well, the buildings were only around one story.." "Even the castles?" Fay interrupted. "Yeah, even the castles." Fay looked intrigued. "What were the people like there?" Kurogane smiled and thought back to his childhood. "Everyone was really nice, respectful. They were always willing to help each other out." Fay smile faded a bit as he watched the darker man become nostalgic and added, "It sounds like a wonderful place." Kurogane looked at the boy. "Yeah it was." Fay's smile completely disappeared "I'm sorry but I have to ask. Why do you keep referring to it in past tense?" Kurogane remembered that horrible night and dropped his gaze. "Demons destroyed it." He said with a fierce look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Fay dropped his gaze. "What for?" Kurogane asked. "I made you remember something you would rather forget." Fay had hidden his face with his bangs. There was a pause of awkward silence. "You don't have to be sorry." Kurogane said still staring at the boy. "It's not like you knew or anything." Fay looked at Kurogane and gave him a soft smile. "Do you care if I ask you a question?" Kurogane watched the boys face. "No, go ahead it's only fair." Fay said but concern flashed for a second through his eyes. "Why are you getting a bodyguard? You aren't his son or something are you?" Fay laughed, "No I'm not Ashura-ou's son." Kurogane watched the boy. "So why are you getting a bodyguard?" He asked again when Fay didn't continue. "I'm not quite sure. Ashura-ou seems to feel that something bad is going to happen or something." Kurogane sighed "No that's not what I mean. What I mean is why are you so important to him." Fay's smiled dropped quickly and he looked into the pudding. Kurogane watched the boy with interest. "…Ashura-ou saved me and took me away from an awful. He promised he'd never let anything happen to me again." Fay's voice was full of sadness and gratitude. Kurogane was slightly surprised by what the boy said. "Thanks for the chat Kurogane-san. I had a fun time I'll get you tomorrow so don't sleep in to late." The boy quickly got up and left. Kurogane was a little surprised by the sudden coldness the boy had given him.

Ah…so this is chapter one. Kinda sucks I know. I enjoyed writing it though so if no one likes at least I had fun doing that. R&R please. Sorry if my paragraphs are too chunky I think I have a problem with that. Please tell me if you enjoyed it. Positive reviews faster chapter updates….maybe. More much more kuro/fay in later chapters. I actually have it planned I just have to write things down.


	2. Castle of Ice Part II

Disclaimer: Don't own TRC

Chapter Two: The Castle of Ice (Part 2)

* * *

Kurogane rubbed his eyes. It had taken him awhile to fall asleep from the naps that he had during the previous day. He rolled out of bed and looked at his surroundings a little confused before remembering that he was on an undercover spy mission. He stretched and pulled the curtains from the window. For the most part the sky was dark but Kurogane could see the sun's rays starting to shimmer over the horizon. At home, at this time he would train himself to become stronger. He sighed, irritated in changing his morning ritual. There was no doubt that he couldn't do the extent of training in the room he'd been giving and if there was training area he had no clue where it was. Kurogane settled for push-ups and other simple warm-ups.

The knock on the door didn't come as a surprise to Kurogane. He opened the door roughly; he had not started his morning in a good mood. The golden haired boy greeted the man with a smile. "Kurrrrrogaaane." Fay said in a very cheerful voice as soon as his new bodyguard opened the door. Kurogane could feel his face get twisted up. "Did youuuu sleep well?" The boy was in a much better mood then when Kurogane had last seen him. "I slept fine." He replied curtly. "My, my, my someone is craaaanky?" The boy's smile grew larger. "Why do you keep doing that?" Kurogane folded his arms and glaring at the boy. "Doooing what?" Fay asked bubbly. Every thought that Kurogane had that the boy was okay was instantaneously erased from his mind. "Holding out your letter sounds to long. It makes you sound retarded…so stop it." The boy stuck his bottom lip out and looked away as if pretending he was hurt. "Kurogane is so meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean. Making fun of my speech pediment." "You don't have a speech pediment! You were talking just fine last night!" Kurogane snapped. Fay laughed and Kurogane slammed the door in his face.

Kurogane stomped his way to the other side of the room. Fay opened the door and peaked his head around the door. "Kurogane-san." Fay called to him. "What?" Kurogane said still annoyed. "Do you want me to go away?" Fay asked. Kurogane sighed and glanced at the boy. Fay stood in between the doorway and looked very delicate. "…What did you want in the first place?" Kurogane leaned against the wall and glanced out the window towards the outline of the distant city. "I thought I'd show you around a bit. First stop would be the bathroom. Then Breakfast. " Fay smile politely. Kurogane glanced at him. "…Fine. Let's go." Fay opened the door wide and happily led the way.

* * *

"That's the library….um…these are random doors." Kurogane rolled his eyes. Fay was mostly going on for his own amusement. Fay insisted on taking Kurogane around the palace after He'd finished cleaning up. Fay opened a door at random. "Oh…this is another of the servants bedrooms…"He said and waved at the servant making the bed. " Hello, sorry for the interruption." Kurogane watched the boy and the servant converse. "What is the point of this?" Kurogane asked as Fay closed the door. "Well, to get you use to the layout of the palace so you don't get lost and wonder into places you're not suppose to be in." Fay explained wagging a finger while he walked ahead of Kurogane. 'Well, it's not like I actually expected it to be that easy.' Kurogane thought. Fay glanced back at Kurogane "Is there someplace you'd like to see?" Kurogane shrugged "I dunno know, you don't have any places where soldiers train or anything do ya?" Fay stopped and looked at Kurogane. "What?" Kurogane demanded the boy had a surprised look on his face. "…You want to see that?" Fay asked. "Yeah, why something wrong with that?" Kurogane watched the boy's expression, intrigued. "No, …It's…just, I've never been there before." Fay lied and regained his smile flashing it at Kurogane.

Though Fay was unusually quiet he still had a skip in his step. "Why do you want to see the training center?" Kurogane shrugged his hands lodged deep in his pockets. Silence. "Kurogane-san…" Kurogane sighed "What?" Fay was now looking at him and walking backwards. "You never answered my question." Kurogane was truly miserable. "I shrugged." Kurogane glanced at the many doors they passed wondering how many rooms the foundation had. Fay hesitated "...Do you like to fight?" Kurogane sighed, "Yeah, I guess."

The rest of the way was spent in awkward silence. "This is it." Fay said when they reached two double doors decorated with gold designs on the dark wood. Fay opened them with a gentle push and Kurogane assumed that the doors were enchanted; they looked too heavy for the boy to open them on his own. Kurogane looked at the boy. "This is the training room?" Fay had led them to a circular room, they appeared to be standing on a balcony and the middle of the room was cut out and was surrounded by a white railing. "Yep, it's probably being used right now so I took us to one of the balconies." Fay said before looking over the railing.

Kurogane joined the boy and watched the people a few floors below practice. They watched the men practice for quite awhile. Their presence went unnoticed for sometime. One of the men, who was gathering his things, glanced in their direction. Kurogane felt as if he was being talked about as the man who looked at them talk to his companion, who immediately following also shot a glance towards the balcony. Kurogane shot the two of them a glare. "Kurogane-san," Kurogane looked at Fay who was smiling at him "let's get out of here." Fay didn't wait for an answer and quickly walked away from the railing. Kurogane shot one more look at the men practicing before following.

The walk back was awkward and Kurogane wondered if he had done anything to upset Fay, his skip was gone and he remained quite leading them straight toward their room. The halls still looked similar but Kurogane could tell they were getting closer to their rooms. A door suddenly opened and a figure jumped out and wrapped itself around Fay. "Fay-san!!!" Chii cried in excitement. "Oh hello Chii" Fay said smiling at the girl-creature. "You startled me. And by the look of Kuro's face you scared him too." "I was not." Kurogane yelled, the other two ignored him. Chii smiled "Sorry." She let go of Fay and glanced at Kurogane. "Where is Fay going?" Chii asked grabbing Fay's hand. "I was planning on going back to my room…but do you want to play?" Fay said and petted Chii's head making her ears twitch. "Kurogane-san would you like to play a game with us?" Kurogane gave the boy a look that read 'does it look like I want to play your games?' They kept staring at him like idiots. Kurogane sighed "No."

* * *

Kurogane exhaled deeply. He had situated himself on his bed, hands comfortably being used as a pillow for his head. The silence was relaxing, his mind drifted to accomplishing his mission soon so that he could return home. The boy, Fay, had led Kurogane back to his room going on in what seemed like in endless banter. Kurogane thought back to the short useless tour Fay had given him. Not once had they passed a door where Fay would inform him that they weren't allowed to enter. So none of those rooms mattered to him what he need to find was something like a debriefing room. Which he would have no idea even where it was located in the giant foundation.

He growled in frustration. 'Fay seems pretty dim-witted maybe I could just ask him to show me it. Though he's probably not that stupid to not know what I'm doing if I start snooping around there.' Kurogane ran a hand through his hair. He contemplated many ways on how to find the room and then on different ways in how to obtain the information, not to mention how he was suppose to provide the information to anyone.

* * *

Kurogane reentered his room. He had just gotten back from dinner, which was extremely awkward. Fai had led the way to dinner blabbing all the way about irrelevant stuff, and for a minute Kurogane thought Fai had started speaking in some nonsense language. The table he was lead to was occupied by a few people that Kurogane thought might look like important people. Ashura was sitting at the head of it and gave a small smile to Fay as they entered. Fay quickly pulled took the vacant chair next to Ashura. The seat next to Fay's was empty, apparently reserved for him.

He sat down glancing awkwardly at the unknown faces. A few shot him a glance before returning to their discussions. Before Kurogane could start inwardly complaining about sitting at a table full of old politicians, Ashura spoke. "Would you mind leaving us for awhile? I wish to have a peaceful meal with Fay." His ever-present smile was there but something seemed fiercer. The other people at the table automatically complied with his wishes. Food was brought out as soon as the others had left. Kurogane inspected the food in front of him with a utensil he was unfamiliar with. Fay's attention the whole meal was directly on Ashura, who was returning all of the attention to Fay. "So what have you done today?" Ashura's asked Fay in a voice that sounded too gentle and smooth to be natural. "I showed Kurogane around the castle." Fay answered with a happy smile on his face that was always present since they sat down. "Oh, you did." Ashura sounded uninterested. "Then, me and Chii…" "Chii and I." Ashura corrected Fay's grammar. "Yeah. Chii and I played hide and go seek. Then we went to the library to read. I taught Chii some new words and stuff, then…" Fay continued on and on. Kurogane tuned the blond boy out. He was surprised at how long Fay could talk in one breath. Not to mention how much the boy could talk about nothing for the rest of dinner. Every now and then he'd add in some crazy hand gesture, once Fay did it so suddenly that he spilt his beverage over the front of his clothes. "Crap," Fay said looking at the front of his outfit. Ashura smiled at Fay, amused at the boy's misfortune. "Well, shall we end dinner here? You'll need to get that to be cleaned right away or it will stain." Ashura stood up and walked out of the room, as he passed Fay he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder giving him a gentle smile before exiting the room.

Fay was leading the way back to their rooms. Fay walked with his normal skip in his step but he would occasionally twirl in a circle. "What is with you?" Kurogane asked angrily after being hit during one of Fay's spontaneous twirl. "I'm just so happy." Fay said loudly. "Aren't you ever so happy that you just want to spiiiiiiiiiin?" Fay asked finishing his sentence mid-spin. Kurogane grunted and walked past him. Fay caught himself on the wall steadying himself until the room stopped spinning, and then followed after Kurogane. "I'll take that as a no." Fay said and poked Kurogane in his side. Kurogane clenched his teeth; 'if I wasn't this stupid brat's bodyguard I'd kill him.' They walked side by side in quite. Kurogane glanced at Fay curious to see why he wasn't making a ruckus. Fay seemed to be off in a daydream looking peaceful.

"Kurogane-san." Fay said abruptly after they walked in silence for a while. Kurogane sighed "What?" Kurogane looked over at Fay who had a facial expression he'd never seen on the boy. Fay cheeks were colored with a slight pink tint. "..Where your from…" Fay seemed to hesitate. Kurogane stop and turned fully to the boy his arms crossed waiting for Fay to continue. Fay stopped to but was looking anywhere but Kurogane, his blond hair covered his face as if hoping to cover his blush. "Do you have anyone special?" Fay blurted out. Kurogane was caught off-guard to say the least "Wh-what?" He stammered. "I was just wondering if you had any experience-" Fay started "WHAT!" Kurogane interrupted. "Ah, no I didn't…" Fay started then took a deep breath "I didn't mean it to sound like that. I was just wondering if you had anyone who is waiting for you at home." Kurogane's first thoughts were of Princess Tomoyo, but quickly erased them. His feelings for Tomoyo were strictly of loyalty not anything of romance, which is what Fay seemed to be asking about.

"Not that it's any of your business, but no." Kurogane said feeling his cheeks burn a bit. "Oh." Fay said before continuing walking. After walking for what felt like forever in awkward silence Kurogane couldn't help himself but wonder why Fay asked such a personal question. "Oi," Fay looked over at Kurogane he had broken the silence. "Why did you want to know about that anyway?" Fay's cheeks turned a bright pink. "Well…um…I" Fay stammered which surprised Kurogane, again. "Look we made it back." Fay said suddenly, pointing to his juice stained shirt he added. "I don't want my clothes to ruined so I'd better hurry. I'll talk to you later Kurogane." Fay said before quickly jogging to his room and slammed the door in a hurry.

* * *

Kurogane sighed out of boredom. Fay seemed to be too embarrassed by their conversation earlier that day to come and bother him. The girl creature hadn't annoyed him today either. 'Might as well get ready for bed.' Kurogane thought to himself. 'I'll figure out how to complete my mission tomorrow.' Kurogane headed towards the closet and quickly stripped off his shirt. Suddenly there was a soft knock on the door. He assumed it was Fay. Fay always seemed to knock softly and Kurogane could never manage to hear Fay's footsteps, unless he deliberately listening for them and even that was a challenge. Kurogane opened the door and greeted Fay. "What do you want?" He said pleased with knowing he could tell when Fay was at the door. "Hyuu" Fay said his eyes were roaming over Kurogane's chest. "You're so manly." Kurogane gave the blond idiot a wired look. "Hyuu?" Fay's smile widened but his eyes continued their gaze. "Yeah, I can't whistle." Fay said distracted. Kurogane rolled his eyes and actually began to feel uncomfortable under the blonde's gaze.

Kurogane turned from the door and went to find his shirt. He quickly found the article of clothing and heard the door quietly close. "What did you want anyway?" Kurogane asked as he pulled his shirt on. "And what are you doing?" Kurogane grumbled. Fay was sprawled across Kurogane's bed. "I wanted to make sure your bed wasn't comfier then mine. Other wise I'd make you share." Fay said ending in a flamboyant big wink. Kurogane seemed speechless for a moment or two. "Get out." He said before turning his back to the blond.

"Oh, Kurogane don't be so mean. You want to know why I stopped by?" Fay said watching his bodyguard sulk. "Well, out with it." Kurogane spat. "Well, you see…it's a surprise so I can't tell you. You'll just have to come with me." Fay said hopping off the bed and shorting the distance between them. "I don't want your stupid surprise. So go away." Kurogane snapped. Fay folded his arms and pouted "Fine, but I hope I get kidnapped or something and you get in trouble." Kurogane sighed "Fine, I'll fucking come with you for your damn surprise."

* * *

Kurogane sighed "Why won't you just tell me where were going?" Fay smiled over his shoulder. "Kurogane surely you know what a surprise means." Kurogane thought that the walls looked similar but he wasn't sure if it was because he had actually been there or the walls were just similar to where he had been before. Fay came to the third stop during their walk. Placing his hand on the wall, to reveal yet another hidden staircase.

"Well we're here." Fay announced after they made there way down the stairs. Kurogane blinked, he recognized the large door decorated in gold designs. It was exactly like the training room doors Fay had showed him earlier that day only they were a few floors below. "What are we doing here?" Kurogane asked.

"Well you said you liked to fight so I figured you could use the room to train." Fay said smiling that same stupid smile Kurogane was growing to hate. Kurogane felt his cheeks burn slightly. He grunted and walked passed the blonde into the room. "What? Not even a thank you." Fay called after him with fake disappointment in his voice. "Where are the weapons?" Kurogane called after scanning the circular room several times. "Ah," Fay ran into the room and opened a secret closet revealing a variety of wooden weapons. "There all wood." Kurogane stated with disappointment. "Of course silly." Fay rolled his eyes. " This IS a training room, we don't want people accidentally hurting their training partners."

Kurogane grunted and grabbed a wooden sword. "Are you just here to watch?" He asked glancing suspiciously at the blond. "No, I'm your training partner." Fay replied cheerfully. "You?" Kurogane asked amused "You think smacking you around with this wooden thing is going to help?" Fay's eyes narrowed slightly, he returned Kurogane's smirk with a smirk of his own. "You think you'll be able to hit me?" "Lets find out. Hurry up and grab your weapon." Fay grabbed a wooden pole and walked to the opposite side of the training room.

"Whenever your ready Kuro-poo." Fay said happily. "What did you just call me?" Kurogane asked in a deadly voice. 'I'm definitely going to smack the shit out of him.' Kurogane thought. "Oops. Did I let the slip?" Fay said in a mischievous voice. "Well, your move." Fay smirk still remain on his face. Kurogane ran towards the blond. Fay blocked most of Kurogane's attacks and managed to dance his way out of the attack's he didn't block. "Heh, not that bad." Kurogane said between slashes. "Oh, why thank you Kurogane." Fay said blocking each attack while blowing hair out of his face. "But no good enough." Kurogane said and sped up his pace, waiting for the opportune moment.

'There it is.' Kurogane finally caught a glimpse in Fay's defensive style. 'Just need to push him a little harder.' Kurogane took the lead, striking in certain ways. Testing Fay's defenses to make sure the blond would fall in his trap. Fay seemed to be doing exactly what Kurogane wanted. 'Here we go' Kurogane thought as he swung his sword with both hands, Fay blocked the fierce attack with the middle of his pole. Kurogane let go of his sword with one hand and grabbed tightly onto Fay's wooden pole. Kurogane pulled it out of the shorter boys hands.

Fay tried desperately tried to hold on to his pole only to fail. The weapon was not only his defense but it was a barrier between him and Kurogane, who he noticed was slightly too close for comfort. Kurogane chucked the pole across the room and brought the wooden sword to Fay's neck. He smirked in triumph. "See not good enough." He looked down at the blond whose cheeks were flushed slightly. Fay seemed unnerved and backed away from Kurogane in large strides. Kurogane glanced at the boy with a little concern. Fay composed himself quickly after regaining his personal space. "Very good Kurogane-san, looks like I can take it up another notch." Fay said the smile returned. "Hmp. Give me all you've got I can still take you." Kurogane said with confidence. Fay picked up his pole and raised an eyebrow "You sure? You don't know what you're asking."

"Just shut up and bring it." Kurogane said positioning himself as Fay made his way to the opposite side of the room. "Alright then, are you prepared?" Fay said and immediately Kurogane noticed the change in the blond. He no longer looked delicate, his eyes seemed cold, the smile was gone and replaced with a frown of concentration which didn't look right on the blonde's face. "Yeah I'm ready." Kurogane answered.

Fay started this time. With speed that Kurogane didn't expect 'His faster.' Kurogane thought in surprise. Kurogane was not nearly as good as blocking as Fay was and unfortunately for Kurogane Fay was good at offense as well. Several times Kurogane barely managed to escape from Fay's swift attacks. 'Just concentrate he'll show a opening soon, just hold him off until then.' Kurogane gritted his teeth in frustration. This time it seemed to go on forever and so far Fay had not so much as even shown a glimpse of an opening. He wasn't decreasing his speed as well.

Then Kurogane saw it. It almost caught him by surprise. 'Might as well go for it, now or never.' Kurogane made to slash Fay's side that he left open. Kurogane was surprised when his attack never made contact with Fay. In fact the blond seemed to disappear yet the pole remained right there. Kurogane had no more time to wonder where Fay had gone, He felt two feet slam into his back and sent him face first on the floor. 'He used the pole to swing around and attack me from behind. Sneaky bastard.' Kurogane rolled on to his back almost as soon as he hit the floor. He raised his sword up not waiting to see if Fay was preparing to strike. Fay's pole had beaten him and found it's way between him and his sword. With a flick of Fay's wrist and he sent Kurogane's sword flying through the air. Fay brought the other end of the pole centimeters away from Kurogane's neck.

Kurogane stared up at the blond standing over him. Several strands of Fay's hair stuck to the blonde's forehead with sweat. His breath was coming in heavy puffs; his legs were on either side of Kurogane. Kurogane felt a weird feeling start to creep over him as he stared at the blond. Kurogane didn't nor did he want to understand the feeling. A smile crept upon the blonde's face. "Not bad, but not good enough." Fay said before lowering his weapon and removed himself so Kurogane could stand.

Kurogane got up silently. "What's wrong?" Fay asked cheerfully. "Nothing." Kurogane replied harshly. "I don't know about that, I was expecting something more of the lines of," Fay took a deep breath, "I'll beat you next time, or you just got lucky." Fay said imitating Kurogane's voice as best he could. Kurogane glared "First of all it WAS just luck, I will beat you next time and I have a question I need answered." Kurogane folded his arms and looked suspiciously at Fay. "Well what is it?" Fay asked confused. " If you can fight and fight well why do you need a bodyguard?" Fay looked away. "I think we should call it a night don't you?" Fay gathered the abandoned weapons and placed them back into their places. "Fay, answer me." Kurogane demanded. Fay sighed, without looking at Kurogane he answered. "It's because you have something I lack."

Kurogane waited, "Well what is it." Fay shifted uncomfortably "the ability to kill." He said coldly. Kurogane stared at the back of the blonde's head. Fay turned around, a smile on his face again. "Well I don't know about you but I could really use a warm bath. So how about we head back now?" Fay said cheerfully. Kurogane remained silent as Fay lead the way back.

* * *

Kurogane rolled over yet again. After a few minutes he rolled again. He closed his eyes trying to clear his mind. It had been over a week and yet he was no closer to getting any information than the first day he started. "Fuck" Kurogane shifted yet again. He stared at the now familiar ceiling listening to the quite of the night. After several more minutes of listening to silence and not getting any closer to sleep, Kurogane ripped the covers off and slid out of bed.

Kurogane pulled the curtains open looking at the unusual scenery. He could see a few house had a light or two on. Kurogane analyzed Celes' villages, or at least the ones he could see. All the houses had streams of smoke rolling out of their chimneys. Kurogane was surprised at how fast Celes had become cold. Kurogane didn't think of bringing any winter clothes since Japan's winter was still far off.

Kurogane sighed remembering when Fay found out he didn't have any warm clothes. He dragged Kurogane to the castle's tailor. Kurogane hated it with a passion, an old man was pretty much feeling him up to get his measurements and Fay would make embarrassing comments about them.

Going to the training room had become a habit for Kurogane and Fay. Kurogane was pleased, not that he'd admit it, to have Fay as his sparring partner. Fay was quicker and more agile than himself. When Fay was serious he was hard to beat. A soft creak of a door snapped Kurogane out of his thoughts; he glanced towards the door and quickly made his way to it. 'Who would be in the hallway at this time? The servant would have finished cleaning rounds by now.' Kurogane thought.

Kurogane opened the door just enough to peek out into the hall. He caught a glimpse of something golden. "Oi, what are you doing?" Kurogane pushed the door open fully and asked in a harsh whisper. Fay turned around quickly; he wore an innocent face as if saying he was up to something. "I was just going to the bathroom." Fay grinned. Kurogane leaned against the doorway. "Really?" Fay nodded "Isn't the bathroom the other way?" Kurogane lifted an eyebrow waiting to hear the blonde's excuse. "Well, there's more than one bathroom on this floor." Fay answered without hesitation.

Kurogane stared at Fay. Fay's eyes were full of mischief and seemed to be challenging Kurogane. "Quit lying where were you going?" Kurogane demanded. "No where." Fay said a grin still on his face. Kurogane rolled his eyes, "I'm your bodyguard so don't go roaming about at night and getting yourself killed, and it'll make me look bad. So go back to bed before you get me in trouble." Fay took a step closer to Kurogane after his speech was finished. "You know this is the first time I've been caught. Pretty impressive Kurogane-san. What are you doing up at this hour anyways?" Fay kept making his way closer until he was leaning against the other side of the doorway.

Kurogane gave the blond a strange look. "I was just…couldn't sleep." Fay smiled a strange smile and there was a twinkle in his eye that made the ninja uncomfortable. "I couldn't sleep either. Maybe we could…not…sleep…. together." Fay said and some of his soft golden hair fell in front of his piercing blue eyes, their gaze was intently on uncommon red eyes.

Kurogane's breath caught in his throat, and he wasn't quite sure why. Fay's soft features were illuminated from Kurogane's windows. Fay's hair looked to be the softest thing known to man and Kurogane had to fight the urge to brush some of it out of the younger boy's face. "Hmmmm…. What do you think?" Fay asked leaning closer. "Why? What do you mean?" Kurogane leaned further away from the blond. Fay backed away and his face was returned with his normal smile and the odd twinkle in his eye had disappeared.

Fay giggled "I'm just messing with you come on I'll keep you company." Fay pranced inside and jumped on Kurogane's bed. "Why were you doing stupid stuff like that? And get off my bed." Kurogane said irritably. Fay pressed his finger to his lips "I don't know, I was just wondering if I could flirt. What do you think?" Kurogane stared "I think you should go beck to YOUR room and try to get to sleep or try to think of something that's not incredibly retarded for once." Fay switched his position so that he was sitting. "Does that mean I can't flirt?" He sighed dramatically and flopped down on Kurogane's bed.

Kurogane started at Fay for a minute or two. "Listen I'm not interested in you okay." He said flatly. Fay sat up quickly and looked flabbergasted at the comment. "Oh, ouch…."Fay grabbed his heart before bursting out in laughter. "WHAT!" Kurogane yelled at the crazy blond. 'Kurogane-san, your funny. No offense but I'm not into you…OH! You're blushing!!" Fay said before bursting out laughing again. Kurogane felt his face heat up even more. "SHUT UP! Anyone would have thought that with the way you were acting." He yelled.

"I didn't mean you to think that I was just playing." Fay said after he got his breath back. Embarrassed Kurogane walked over to Fay grabbed him by the back of his shirt and escorted him to the door. "Go to bed." Kurogane said pushing Fay out. "Oh, Kurogane-san don't be like that." Fay said sadly as Kurogane slammed the door in his face.

* * *

Chapter two done…man that update took forever…sorry. First year in college, I had it all written out just needed to type it. There you go. Please R&R Thanks. Hopefully I can get Chapter three up sooner, but no promises. 


End file.
